Study: Virtual Assistants pushing ecommerce

While virtual assistants like Apple's Siri, Amazon's Echo, and Google's Home have been shown to impact how all consumers shop, men are the most likely to be influenced by their virtual assistants to make purchases while women are more likely to use their assistant for news and other media consumption.

Researchers surveyed 1,000 US consumers and found that just over half (53%) who have a virtual assistant are now making fewer in-store purchases, and that Millennials, especially, have changed their habits with 60% saying they make fewer in-store purchases now.

"As voice-activated virtual assistants become fixtures in homes around the world, it is critical for marketers to understand how the rising popularity of AI technology is shaping consumer behavior," said Frédéric-Charles Petit, CEO and founder of Toluna. "While our research shows that these devices have altered the traditional ways consumers research information, consume media, and purchase products, they also create new opportunities for savvy brands to engage customers. Brands must carefully evaluate how their target consumers are leveraging emerging technology and shape their strategies around those insights."

The Toluna data also shows:

• 51% are doing less online research before making purchases after buying a virtual assistant
• 90% say they would recommend virtual assistants to friends
• 40% of those who don't currently have a virtual assistant say they are interested in them
• 52% of those who don't have a virtual assistant say costs is the biggest reason why

But, all is not rosy for virtual assistants - nearly two-thirds (63%) say they worry about their privacy/the privacy of their data when using virtual assistants.